The Mercury Comet was introduced, as Mercury dealers wanted some of Maverick's sales dominance. Of course, Mercury got its "Grabber" too, called Comet GT. Comet GT consisted of mostly what the Grabber package had, with a few exceptions. No spoiler was ever factory on a Mercury Comet. The hood donned a single scoop, and its stripe ran straight above the wheelwells, just below the door handle.

Ford tried to convince the public of the 6 cyl's performance with the "Mavi GT," but after prodding from dealers, magazines, and gearheads everywhere, a V8 was added to the Maverick's option list. Beginning with December production, a 210 hp 302 V8 was Maverick's top engine choice. It allowed Maverick to compete with the Nova and Dart (its new competition after the introduction of the Pinto) and gave the heavier new 4 door a needed boost.

The new 302 gave the Grabber a more realistic performance image, and Ford decided to make it look the part. New for 1971 was the now-famous Grabber hood. A Grabber grille, with integrated driving lights, was standard blacked out on Grabber, optional (grey) on other 1971 models with the Luxury Decor Option. The 170 became standard on the Grabber, downgrading from the standard 200 in 1970.

The Grabber got its own trim designation, beginning in 1971. The Maverick 2 door was 62A, the Grabber is 62D. Interestingly enough, Mercury gave no such distinction to the Comet GT, which spent its whole life as an option package only.